Logs

A log is a timestamped text record, either structured (recommended) or unstructured; OpenTelemetry accepts any log format, but structured logs are preferred in production because their stable schema makes them straightforward to validate, parse, and analyze at scale. OpenTelemetry provides a Logs API and SDK plus logging bridges to integrate with existing logging frameworks. Adopting OpenTelemetry frequently starts by deploying a Collector as a general-purposes logging agent: its filelogreceiver parses logs from any file and the transformprocessor flattens nested structures and updates values. Adding autoinstrumentation or activating an SDK automatically correlates existing logs with any active trace and span. Application developers configure their logging library with a log appender or bridge emitting into an OpenTelemetry LogRecordExporter. Scope: OpenTelemetry. Reviewed October 4, 2026.